An Indian Private satellite will be launched to space by the end of February will carry a photograph of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, a copy of the Bhagwad Gita, and names of 25,000 citizens. The Satish Dhawan Satellite, or SD SAT, will be launched by the polar satellite launch vehicle (PSLV).
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According to a report by Hindustan Times, this satellite has been named one of the founding fathers of India’s space programme and developed by SpaceKidz India, an organisation dedicated to promoting space science among students will also carry three scientific payloads — one to study space radiation, one to study the magnetosphere, and another that will demonstrate a low-power wide-area communication network.
“There is a lot of excitement in the group right now. This will be our first satellite to be deployed in space. When we finalised the mission, we asked people to send in their names that will be sent to space. And, within a week we received 25,000 entries. Of these, 1,000 names were sent in by people from outside India. There is a school in Chennai that sent in the names of everyone. We decided to do this because it will spark the interest of the people in the mission and space science,” said Dr. Srimathy Kesan, founder and CEO of SpaceKidz India.
The people whose names will be carried in this new satellite will be given a ‘boarding pass’.
The organization decided to send a copy of the Bhagavad Gita to space as many other space missions have carried holy books such as the Bible. “We have also added the name and photograph of the prime minister on the top panel with the words Atmanirbhar mission. This satellite has been completely developed and fabricated in India, including the electronics and circuitry,” Kesan said.
The names of Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) chairperson Dr K Sivan and scientific secretary Dr R Umamaheswaran have been etched on the bottom panel.
This private satellite will be transported to Sriharikota on Sunday as some design changes are being made following recommendations by ISRO.
